COVID-19 Travel Restrictions: India

India has issued new travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following are guidelines for foreign nationals traveling to India:

Commercial Flight Restrictions

Effective March 23, 2020 and until March 29, 2020, no incoming scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft will be allowed to land and disembark passengers in India.

Visa and Consular Services

All Indian visa services are suspended until April 15, 2020. This does not include in-country registration, visa extension, and other visa related formalities.

India has temporarily suspended Visa-on-Arrival for nationals of Japan and South Korea.

Foreign nationals who are already in India on visas remain in valid status until their visa expires. The Indian government has made special provisions (set out below) for in-country extensions.

The Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRROs) and Foreigners Registration Offices (FROs) are temporarily providing essential consular services for foreign nationals who are currently unable to leave the country due to travel restrictions. Consular processed visas, electronic visas (e-visas) and stipulations of stay endorsed on the visas, which have expired, or are set to expire, during the period from March 13, 2020 (midnight) to April 15, 2020 (midnight) will be extended until April 15, 2020 (midnight). All foreign nationals must file an online application on the e-FRRO portal. Foreign nationals whose visas have expired and who have made an application to exit the country, will be granted an Exit Permit without a penalty for overstay. Foreign nationals are not permitted to visit the FRRO or FRO without a prior appointment for in-country Registrations, Visa Extensions, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) applications and other visa related services, until further notice.

OCI cardholders in India remain in valid status. However, OCI cardholders who are not currently in India cannot travel to India until April 15, 2020.

Travel Restrictions for Foreign Nationals and Indian Nationals

Foreign nationals and Indian nationals residing in the following countries are restricted from traveling to India from March 18, 2020 until March 31, 2020:

• Member countries of the European Union
• Member countries of the European Free Trade Association (Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland)
• Turkey
• United Kingdom.

Citizens from Afghanistan, Malaysia and the Philippines are restricted from all travel to India until March 31, 2020.

Quarantine Procedures

All foreign nationals who have traveled to India from any location outside India or who may travel to India once international flights are permitted to land in India, may be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days upon their arrival to India.

All incoming travelers including Indian nationals who have traveled or who are set to travel to India once international flights are permitted to land and who have visited China, Italy, Iran, the Republic of Korea, France, Spain or Germany after February 15, 2020 will be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days upon their arrival.

We are closely monitoring matters in India and will provide further updates as they are provided by the Indian government.

If you have any questions about this alert, please contact your Gibney representative or email info@gibney.com.